Blogging with Mayo

Mayowa Oroyemi

Professor Penaz

English 2150

4/6/09

Cultural diffusion in Dancing in New York

When you look at a city one of the questions that arise in your mind is what makes this city unique and bring the people in this city together. When I think of New York I think of many things but one of the first things that come to my mind is Dance. New York is known as the Mecca of hip hop and thus the birth of hip hop dance. Dance started off as a way for people to tell stories and pass them on down to the next generation and also a way for them to communicate to the opposite sex and express their feelings without using words. In today’s society Dance brings us together in many ways but in New York it does much more than that.

Dance is, in general terms, human movement with an implied purpose such as the communication of an aesthetic or emotional idea, participation with music, and/or the achievement of certain mind-body states, sometimes spiritual-mystical ones, sometimes as simple as physical fitness. In this way, dance is contrasted to utilitarian movement–such as walking, hammering, typing, lifting weights, etc.–that has a direct “materialistic” purpose. There are other forms of human activity that can be classified as not strictly utilitarian, such as pantomime and sports. However, dance differs from these other forms of activity insofar as the dancer’s movement diverges from necessity–insofar as the dancer’s movement is shaped primarily by an aesthetic or emotional concern rather than by the need to run faster, leap farther, or communicate a concrete, discursive idea. A dance also refers to a specific form of this movement. Specific dances have names that are recognized, and the specifics of the dance may be formalized. Examples of specific dances or families of dances are waltz, jig and salsa (http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Dance).

A person might ask what makes dance in New York different from dance in California or any other state and the first thing I say is that one of the most popular dance styles (hip hop) originated in New York and if it wasn’t for hip hop a lot of other dance styles from other states like Krump from California or Bucking from Memphis would not exist. New York paved the way for many other cities and states to create their own dance styles that they could use to communicate and bring the people in their communities together. A lot of dancers come to New York just to go to school for dance because they know that New York can offer more than they would be able to get in their hometowns.

Dance is a way for people to relax and have fun. If you were to ask a dancer why he or she dances, if they are a real dancer they will tell you that dancing isn’t just a hobby but a way of life of them. I believe that saying because I am a dancer and I know what that means. Dancing is a way to just have fun or to let your emotions out. There have been many times when I either lost someone close to me or just had a lot of drama going on around me that I wish could go away and the one magical way that I could make it go away without having to do anything dangerous was to dance my pain away. A lot of people in New York turn to dance as an alternative to selling drugs or being in the gangs.

When you come into the dance world you meet a lot of people from different races, countries, and cultural backgrounds showing that there is definitely a big cultural diffusion going on in New York. You can’t look at dance in New York and say that only a specific race or ethnic group does hip hop, salsa, ballet, or any other form of dance because that would be a lie. When it comes to dance I’m into hip hop and reggae and when you break that down, in hip hop I do popping and locking, waving and original dance style from New York own borough Brooklyn and it is called flexing which a combination of popping, waving, and tutting. You can find Hispanics, African Americans, Caucasians, Asians etc doing this form of dance and it brings us all together.

This type of dancing and other dancing lets us come together and show each other our talents and it lets us pass on what we know to each other and this is done during lab sessions (practice) when different crews come together to practice with each other and have either friendly battles or battles to settle arguments or beef going on between them. When you go in a club and you hear a song like chicken noodle soup or you hear a song like stanky leg being played I guarantee that if you look around the club you will find that everyone in the club will be doing the dance. You can never go to a dance battle or dance club and find only one ethnic group. Dance in New York is a big way for people to network and be known.

Dance is also a way for a lot of people especially the young teens in New York to Prove themselves and get a name for themselves. Two of the ways to get a name for yourself that New York has that no other city or state that I know has are Dcole’s “dark wars” and Upperclassmen’s “battlefest”. Dcole actually has a get your name up dance session at his dark wars where he lets people dance on camera to get the spotlight and let their name and presence be known and he post the videos on his YouTube page, and battlefest is a place where people who flex and do hip hop can come and battle to make a name for themselves and win prizes for their accomplishments. And even if other cities have things like battlefest and dark wars I can guarantee that theirs is nothing like us our battles are just so New York!!!.

Dance in New York is just like no other we have our own swagger and there is just an aura about how we organize our competitions and the way we get together at clubs and parties and show everyone our sweet moves. New York will always be New York and dance will always be dance but dance in New York can only be found here in New York so copy cats and imitators beware because our style is not to be taken and you cannot find it anywhere else but you might find dancers that were once from New York carrying on the job and spreading dance to other cities and spreading the culture.